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In these crazier than crazy days, be gentler with yourself.

If you want to hide under your bed for a while, go ahead. Stay under it. Stay in it. Rest. Deep breathe. Meditate. Create positive affirmations. Visualize love and peace in the world. Take a nap in the middle of the day. Send your “Metta Meditation Prayer of Loving Kindness” into the universe, and above all: self-care.

Then, dear friend, after you feel energized (or even if you don’t feel energized):

Rise. Get out of bed, put one foot in front of the other, and move forward. You don’t have to know exactly where you’re going or even what you’re going to do today.

As you move through your day, set your intention to live the words of the “Serenity Prayer.”

“God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.”

I admit that I’m still “a work in progress” in living the words to this prayer.

>> It’s not easy for me to let go and accept injustices, unfairness, and human cruelty.

>> It’s not easy to rev up my courage to write, sing, and give myself a voice against “hard power.”

>> I imagine that it will take a lifetime to gain the wisdom to know what I can and what I can’t change.

All I can do is to give the “Serenity Prayer” my best attempt. Especially now. That’s all any of us can do.

As we struggle to deal with the hour-by hour-destruction of our democracy, adopt this prayer as one of your self-healing tools.

As I was meditating on the words the other day, I asked my inner life coach if there was anything at all that I could control in these scary times. She whispered two words to me: Soft Power.

As I researched this phrase, I realized on a deep level that soft power is my strength. Perhaps it is your strength, too.

Think about the powerful legacies that Pete Seeger, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela left behind.

They stood for the soft power of human rights, kindness, empathy, compassion, forgiveness, nonviolent resistance, and the lasting influence of creativity and the arts.

The man who describes himself as “the richest person in the world” recently said that “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.”

Ironically, when I first read his statement, the empathic part of me felt sorry for him. Either he’s saying this to be controversial, to imitate similar statements made by dictators, or he doesn’t have the emotional ability to know that empathy is a sacred quality.

I cherish empathy as a soft power, and I intend to keep using it as a bridge toward peace, love, and understanding.

He also called empathy a “weapon.”

He’s right. Empathy is a weapon. A nonviolent weapon and a positive energy force for good in the world.

In addition to empathy, there is an entire smorgasbord of other “soft power” choices:

>> Kindness

>> Humor

>> Curiosity

>> Listening

>> Full presence

>> Creativity

>> Open-mindedness

>> Helpfulness

>> Nonjudgmental eye contact

>> A warm smile

>> An open heart

>> Optimism

>> Happiness

>> Hope

>> Caring

>> Nurturing

>> Manners

>> Patience

Every day, make it your intention to spread your soft powers everywhere. Bowl people over with them. Shock people with your genuine kindness and patience. Sprinkle quick conversations with humor and the gentle power of your smile.

Isolation, loneliness, depression, and rage are rampant, and to make the world less harsh, it is up to us to use our soft powers fully.

When I was in the grocery store the other day, I stopped following my boring list and broke the tedium by heading over to the pastry area. I wanted to find my favorite childhood cookie. Hermits.

On my treasure hunt, I noticed a woman eyeing all the pastries, too. She seemed tired, depressed, and alone. I took the risk and struck up a light conversation. I told her what I was looking for and then asked if she was looking for her favorite pastry, too.

At first, she seemed guarded, but within seconds, she shared that she was looking for her husband’s favorite little pie. Then, in a magical moment, she smiled. That’s the strength of “soft power.”

As Mother Teresa said, “Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”

It’s the little conversations wrapped in kindness that send the vibrations of light-filled peace and love into the world.

It doesn’t matter who the woman in the grocery store voted for or if she voted at all. Her religion, gender preference, color of her skin—none of that mattered.

Pie is pie, cookies are cookies, the inner child is inside everyone, and we all need love and connection.

As you go about your day, do your best to stay aligned with your intuition, gut feelings, highest wisdom, and your open heart of unconditional love.

“Love thy neighbor as thyself” is as powerful as the “Serenity Prayer.”

Use your soft power gifts and allow them to serve as a beacon of light and hope to those who may have lost their way.

Before I let you go, I’d like to share a joyful song with you. “I’m Gonna Sing When the Spirit Says Sing” by James Desjardins.

One request. Sing with me.

You see, singing is “soft power” too. In tune or out of tune, singing is healing, massages your body from inside out, and elevates your mood. As I share my video with you (videos are best viewed on your laptop), sing, clap, dance, pray, and make joyful noises right along with me. Don’t worry about the quality of your voice. It is your birthright to make your unique sounds.

Free yourself to be yourself.

And remember, singing is a form of prayer. As you sing, you pray. You are praying for love, peace, joy, nature’s healing, common ground, understanding, compassion, respect, justice, hope, and yes—you are praying for more empathy in the world.

While you are making joyful noises, please keep Ukraine, its courageous people, and their passionate leader in your minds and hearts. They need our prayers and our songs of hope more than ever.

And now, join me in my rendition of “I’m Gonna Sing When the Spirit Says Sing,” and here’s to spreading joy as our soft power, too.